Single IPA hop you can't live without

[stickyfinger]

For me, it's Citra.

Mind you, I love Galaxy, Mosaic, Nelson Sauvin, Simcoe, etc. But I can't live without Citra.

Citra is boss for sure. I love it in the hopstand, more than in the dryhop I think.

 

[AZBeer]

For a single hop IPA I'd go Galaxy. But man, I need me some Citra in my life too.

 

[stickyfinger]

I dry hopped a recent IPA with 1 oz/gal of Galaxy. I was very impressed. It was amazingly hoppy and very nice. I got a fruit potpourri with a pineapple finish. Everyone I gave it to absolutely loved it. It inspired me to make a 100% Galaxy IPA. The wort sample was super awesome, and it is fermenting now. I do always also get a characteristic sort of medicinal character though with Galaxy as well. It's not off-putting, but I can always detect it. Does anyone else get sort of a very light medicinal character from it? It's hard to describe. It doesn't make the resulting beer bad at all, but I can always detect it. I dry hopped a Belgian Golden Strong Ale with Galaxy several months ago and it really accentuated the medicinal character to the point that I had to dump the batch as it aged. I am very curious about this hop. I'm wondering if a Galaxy-Mosaic, Galaxy-Citra, Galaxy-Denali or Galaxy-Simcoe wouldn't be really nice? I've never met a hop that can stand up to Denali, but I think Galaxy might be able to. It almost seems that as you use more and more of the Galaxy in a beer, it gets better and better. If you use it very lighlty, I seem to not like it as much. Maybe I'm crazy though.

 

[stickyfinger]

Centennial

I have been disappointed with Centennial of late. Does anyone else get a sort of woody, rustic character from it? I used it very extravagantly in an IPA at around 3 oz/gal dry hop, and it was SOOO woody and rustic. It was not great. I've used it with a lighter hand since then, but I always can detect the woody character now. Am I crazy? How can I get that character that Bells Two Hearted Ale has? That is much more fruit forward, like fruit loops almost. I think maybe a heavy hand in the hopstand with centennial and then something else in dryhop would be preferred for me.

 

[eric19312]

Columbus / CTZ hands down. Easy to get, cheap, versatile. Need dank..can do. Fruity juicy.. sure why not? Single hop...the best. Plays well with others, check. Takes the lead or sings backup...check and check again. Really impossible to go wrong with this hop in virtually any American style hoppy beer.

Did I mention I like Columbus?

 

[EtchyLives]

Amarillo by morning...

Same here. It adds that je ne sais quois to the beers I use it in. I'm not a big IPA brewer but when I do there is some Amarillo in it.

 

[user 246304]

If we're talking an American IPA, centennial.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

A lot of people really like Citra. I like it well enough, but it's so common in beers now that I avoid it. Making it even less appealing for me is that some people get pronounced cat-pee flavor/aroma from it. Plus it does not age well in a finished beer in my experience (I've had many commercial citra hopped IPA's that I tasted, thought "yuck" and the date showed that it was 4+ months old. All hops fade, but to me citra goes from tasty to nasty as it ages (as opposed to just having muted flavors).

 

[dchmela]

I'm down with Amarillo. I always have to avoid buying it because I want to try other stuff. I always come back to it. Just bought a pound of Cascade to go back to old school pale ales.

 

[BeardedBrews]

Centennial if I were picking only one hop. It has enough character to be interesting, but also plays well with a variety of yeast profiles without overwhelming them. Also very budget friendly

 

[PADave]

A lot of people really like Citra. I like it well enough, but it's so common in beers now that I avoid it. Making it even less appealing for me is that some people get pronounced cat-pee flavor/aroma from it. Plus it does not age well in a finished beer in my experience (I've had many commercial citra hopped IPA's that I tasted, thought "yuck" and the date showed that it was 4+ months old. All hops fade, but to me citra goes from tasty to nasty as it ages (as opposed to just having muted flavors).

I have to agree, I was a huge Citra fan, but now after using it so much, I'm kinda getting tired of it. But I have the opposite experience with my citra only brews. I don't think they are good at first, but after ageing a few months they get really good.

 

[stickyfinger]

I just tried my first 100% Galaxy beer. I had always thought that Galaxy radically changed my beers when I used it as part of a grouping of hops and worried that a 100% Galaxy beer would be way over the top. It turns out that I actually like the flavor of the 100% Galaxy beer more than when I use it as part of a mix of hops for some reason. It is very tropical, pineapple, etc. When used as a group it always seems to "dry" the beer to me somehow and can give a kind of medicinal character. It's not bad at all and often great, but it is different it seems. This is assuming my usual hop usage rate but just making it all Galaxy instead of 2,3 or more hop varieties.

 

[eric19312]

I’ve got two...both make outstanding SMASH beers..
Comet and CTZ. Good as single hop, good in combinations. Both are on the lower end of the hop cost spectrum.

 

[Jwin]

I would say Centennial, but the last two years have not been great imo. 13-14 were nice. Haven't had any of the 17 yet.
That being said, I'll call Columbus as well. So versatile, depending on boil time addition. I just got my first comet on black Friday (thanks Yakima valley hops) and I'm looking to do a IIPA with the two. Shooting for old school west coast dank city. 50/50 through the boil. Maybe some Idaho 7 cryo in WP..?
Hoping I dig it because both hops are pretty cheap.

 

[TerpRush]

Summit is one of my staples. Must have.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Amarillo, good three ways. Bittering, late addition, dry hop. Citra great dry hop not so much bittering/late addition. Magnam, bittering, not late or dry hop.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Now if the question is, “What late addition hop”. There is no other answer than Fuggle.